The prevalence of the use of transaction cards continues to grow. With the increasing use of transaction cards by individuals for value in purchases, the market for different types of transaction cards also continues to grow.
In this regard, a number of different varieties of cards are offered to consumers that may each offer a unique set of benefits and features. For example, a number of ultra-premium transaction card types have been proposed that are marketed to individuals with high net worth that also establish large balances using a transaction card. Card issuers that offer such ultra-premium transaction card types often provide associated premium services to holders of such ultra-premium transaction cards such as, for example, concierge services, increased involvement rewards programs, increased travel benefits, consumer protection features with respect items purchased using such cards, or other ultra-premium services not typically offered with standard transaction cards.
In addition to ultra-premium services offered in connection with such transaction cards, card issuers may also wish to provide a premium physical card as evidence of the ultra-premium nature of the transaction card. In fact, the awareness of such ultra-premium transaction cards has grown to the point where such ultra-premium cards have become associated with the high net worth individuals to whom such cards are issued. In this regard, such ultra-premium cards have become status symbols for many individuals.
To further increase the exclusivity of such cards and to differentiate such cards from traditional transaction cards, it has been proposed to manufacture cards using different precious metals rather than the typical plastic materials employed in traditional cards. For example, titanium, palladium, other precious metals, or the like have been proposed to be used to construct ultra-premium transaction cards. However, to produce precious metal cards of the kind proposed for use in the ultra-premium transaction card market, it is often the case that traditional methods of card manufacture are not applicable. In turn, the cost of such cards is often much greater than the cost associated with the production of traditional transaction cards made from plastics and the like. For example, art work and other indicia (e.g., account numbers, a name associated with the account, expiration dates, verification codes, terms and conditions, and/or other necessary indicia) associated with a transaction card may be provided on a transaction card. In the case of metallic cards, such art work and/or other indicia may be directly created in the precious metal of the card by such processes as laser etching, machining, etching, or other relatively costly processes. It has further been proposed that layers including the transaction card indicia be adhered to the metal substrate. However, each of these approaches requires costly manufacturing techniques not normally associated with the production of transaction cards such that the cost for each card may be much more than traditional transaction cards. Furthermore, the cost of the raw materials for precious metal cards may be much greater than the materials used to construct traditional plastic cards. In this regard, many card issuers that offer ultra-premium transaction cards of this nature do not directly recoup the increased production costs of such cards when offering such cards to individuals (e.g., by way of fixed initiation fees or annual fees) with the understanding that the high net worth individuals to whom the card is offered will more than likely use the transaction card to a degree so as to provide substantial revenue to the card issuer despite the loss associated with the production of the card. However, the reach of such ultra-premium cards has been correspondingly limited to a relatively small portion of the transaction card market as a result of the difficulty in large scale manufacture of ultra-premium cards.